(RTTNews) - FBR Capital Markets Wednesday upgraded Cathay General Bancorp (CATY: News ), the holding company for Cathay Bank, to "Market Perform" from "Underperform." The brokerage believes that the current valuation affords shareholders less downside risk. FBR maintained its price target as well as earnings estimates on the stock.

Analyst David Rochester's risk valuation is based on the belief that CATY likely has enough capital to come safely through the rest of the cycle, TBV/share troughs are at a decent premium to the current share price and the potential that CATY will possibly win a small FDIC-assisted deal at some point over the next 12 to 18 months.

The brokerage maintained its price target of $8.50 on the stock. It also noted that the strong pullback in the shares since the company's capital raise in October has improved its view of the valuation.
CATY closed Tuesday's regular trade at $7.93, down from the previous close of $8.20, on 1.32 million shares.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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